"In truth, the worldwide film industry stands at about $45 billion and the worldwide video game industry checks in at around $28 billion," he said.

And he berated game makers for failing to come up with products with truly mass market appeal, compared to film and TV producers.

A walk around the show floor at E3 illustrates the issue. There is a preponderance of action or fighting games which are aimed squarely at men in their 20s and early 30s.

There are also the obligatory "booth babes", as companies jostle for the attention of attendees.

"Our own industry, mainly through our marketing practices, reinforces the stereotype that most gamers are men," said Mr Lowenstein.

'Testosterone hobby'

It is clear that women do like to play games. ESA figures show that a third of console players are women.

But many of these women are casual gamers, who play far fewer games, far more infrequently, than their male counterparts.

Games need to change to be topics of conversation at dinner parties

"We need a cultural shift so that young girls and women feel that playing games is not a testosterone monopolised hobby reserved for their boyfriends and husbands," urged Mr Lowenstein.

For this to happen, game producers need to think radically about the sorts of games they make, said the ESA president.

As part of this, games had to become easier to play, as often people are intimidated by the technology or the complexity of a title.

"If video games aspire to movie-like status, then games need to become topics of conversation at dinner parties and happy hours.

"And they won't ever achieve that if they are mainly the province of an elite few who speak their own language, congregate in chat rooms and LAN centres, and have an endless amount of time on their hands," he said.

Violence sells

One of the obstacles in the way of games becoming mainstream is the perception that they are aggressive and violent.

Currently, gaming is still dominated and catered for by men

The success of gangster titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the top selling game in the US of 2004, reinforces this view.

But games rated "mature" made up just 16% of all the games sold last year. The majority, 53%, were suitable for all ages, and 30% were for teens.

Mr Lowenstein said the games industry needed to take concerns about violence in games seriously.

And he challenged game makers to stop relying on creating ever more violent titles in the pursuit of sales.

"If we as an industry aspire to the same cultural and artistic credibility and stature achieved by other major forms of entertainment, our creative community and our publishers will have to eschew some of the historically easy and successful formulas for commercial success," he said.